


When He Sees Her

by Josh89



Series: Beauty [7]
Category: Cause of Death (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Fluff, Mal and Natara are Adorable, Oaths & Vows, POV Third Person, Present Tense, Vows, Wedding Fluff, Wedding Rings, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 09:25:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18312809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh89/pseuds/Josh89
Summary: 'He hears a collective gasp from behind him, the slightest hitch in the breathing of everyone else in the room, and he turns. As his eyes catch hers, it's like nothing else matters. When he sees her slowly walking towards her on her father's arm looking the way she does now, the whole world falls away, and it's just the two of them'. A year after Mal's proposal to Natara, the two of them finally get the chance to celebrate the way they deserve to.





	When He Sees Her

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline - A year after Beauty Redefined, about two years before Victoria Fallon is born

“You absolutely 100% sure that you’re ready for this, Mal?”  
Mal glances up at the sound of Jeremy’s voice, giving his best man a reassuring smile. “Of course, why would I not be?”  
“It’s just that… in a couple of hours, you’ll be promising to spend the rest of your life with Natara. One woman for the rest of your life. Doesn’t that scare you?”  
Mal nods. “Yeah, Jeremy, of course it scares me. I’m scared that one of us is going to do something stupid, that we’re going to mess up in some way or that I’ll lose her. I’m worried that I’m not going to be good enough for her. But I’m also feeling really, really, excited. Natara is… she’s absolutely amazing, and I haven’t felt quite this way about anyone else for a long time. We’ve been working towards something like this for a little under a year and it’s finally time for it all to pay off. So yeah, I’m excited. I can’t wait, in fact”  
“Good to know”  
His friend crosses to the door, opening it and glancing quickly out into the hallway, before turning and gesturing to the suit on the chair next to the detective. “Now, why don’t you finish getting ready and make sure you’re ready to marry the woman you love, and I shall go see how the hall looks and if there’s any last minute preparations that will need to be made?”  
Jeremy phrases it as though it’s a question, and, though Mal is aware that it isn’t, he smiles and nods in agreement. As Jeremy disappears through the door, closing it behind him, Mal is already getting to his feet and reaching for the articles of clothing on the chair. His best man is right, he can’t afford to waste time.  
~One hour and thirty-five minutes later~  
He’s nervous as hell right now. He’s standing next to Jeremy in front of the altar, on what is without a doubt the happiest day of his life, and he can’t keep still. His hands, folded neatly together in front of him, are twitching with anticipation, and his mind constantly wanders to his fiancée’s features. The way that her dark hair frames her perfect face, falling to just below her delicate, swan-like, neck. The way she smiles softly at him whenever she thinks he’s not looking, and quite frequently even when she knows that he is, and the way her eyes shine with pure, undisguised, love. The way he feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of his shoulders whenever she eases herself into his side and rests her head on his chest or shoulder. “Mal”.  
Jeremy’s quiet whisper and gentle nudge bring him out of his thoughts, and he glances at his best man beside him. Jeremy inclines his head in the direction of the church aisle, indicating for Mal to turn around, and the detective does so, feeling his breath catch in his throat as he takes in the sight of the woman walking towards him on her father’s arm. Her dress is simple, yet elegant. Her raven hair is tied back, with a single strand falling loose to brush against each of her cheeks. She is wearing very little makeup, from what the detective can see, what little she is wearing being enough to highlight her already-gorgeous features. Her dress clings tightly to her body in a shape that reminds Mal somewhat of a champagne flute, accentuating her slender figure, though wider around her lower legs, and her mouth is open in a soft smile, showing perfect white teeth. Jeremy exhales. “Wow”.  
Mal merely nods in response to his friend’s statement, too stunned by the sight of the woman approaching the altar to do anything more. As if she knows he’s watching her, she turns her head slightly to look straight at him, and her eyes catch his. As they lock eyes, he could swear that all else in the room seems to fall away, and just the two of them remain. His heart seems to skip a beat with every step closer to him she takes, until she’s standing right beside him, facing him, their eyes meeting and her left hand intertwined with his right, and he would happily die then and there just because his dream has come true and he’s finally marrying the woman he loves (although when he thinks about it he has to admit to himself that he really would rather not die after all, not when he and Natara still have so much left of life to live). “Take care of her” her father says quietly as he leaves to take his own seat.  
“I will” Mal replies in agreement.  
He is only dimly aware of the preacher speaking, followed by a brief silence. And then he can’t help but smile at his fiancée, the woman who he is achingly close to being able to call his wife, and the perfect words suddenly spring to mind. “Natara. From the moment we met at the docks during the Maskmaker investigation, I knew there was something special about you. You were intelligent and quick-witted, and the professional way in which you approached your job, no matter what happened, amazed me. As we worked together in the months after closing the Maskmaker case, I learned so much more about you than I ever thought I would. Your dedication to the truth, the way you hold loyalty to your family to be more important than anything else, your kindness and inner strength. It’s impossible for me to pinpoint the exact time that I realized that I was falling in love with you, Natara, but I can honestly say that I have never been happier in my life than I am to be here with you right now. You amaze me every day, and I eagerly look forward to spending the rest of our lives together”  
The black-haired woman smiles softly, reaching up with her left hand to brush a loose strand of her hair out of her eyes before responding with her own vows. “Mal. When I first met you, I wasn’t sure what to think. You were so different to all the people I had worked to prior to coming to San Francisco that I wondered if we would get along at all. To my surprise, we did. As we worked together, I slowly started to realize that my feelings for you ran deeper than friendship. It took me a while to be able to admit them to myself, and even longer to find the strength to admit to you how I felt, but I’m so glad I finally found the strength to do so. There is nowhere I would rather be than with you here right now, on the most important day of our lives, and I eagerly look forward to spending the rest of my life with you”.  
The reverend says something, and Mal is dimly aware of Jeremy pressing something into his left hand and Neha, standing behind her sister, presses something similar into Natara’s right. The man speaks again and, though Mal’s eyes are fixed purely on the face of the woman standing in front of him, he knows exactly what to say. “I do”.  
As he slips the ring onto her slender finger and his hand drops to the side, the reverend repeats the question, this time addressing Natara. The raven-haired woman nods. “I do”.  
As she slips the ring that her sister has handed to her onto his finger, he hears the reverend speaking once more, smiling as the words register. As they lean in, and their lips finally touch, Mal can’t help but think Finally.  
After approximately five seconds (though Mal swears that it felt like forever), the two separate, and Natara gives him a soft smile. “I love you” he breathes.  
Her smile becomes even more genuine, if that is possible, and she presses her lips against his again, whispering “I love you too”.  
And Mal knows that if this, the life that he and his new wife are about to create together, is a dream, then it is one that he never, ever, wants to wake up from.


End file.
